Israeli army detains Palestinian family members after settlers attack village
The Israeli army on Monday detained several members of the same Palestinian family in Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank, after they attempted to remove a group of settlers encroaching on their land.
Armed Israeli settlers brought their livestock to graze on land in Khirbet al-Markaz, a village in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron, prompting clashes with the Palestinian landowners.
The settlers opened fire, causing no injuries, before the Israeli army intervened to protect the settlers.
The Palestinians, all members of the Makhamreh family, remained in detention on Tuesday.
Osama Makhamreh told Middle East Eye that armed Israeli settlers had raided Khirbet al-Markaz, a village in the Masafer Yatta area south of Hebron, bringing livestock to graze among olive trees – a pastoral settler policy increasingly used to seize Palestinian land.
In response, local residents headed to the area in an attempt to drive the settlers away, only to find them armed. The settlers opened fire, though no injuries were reported.
